AFC Bournemouth striker Joshua King is unhappy with his side’s displays and has admitted the Cherries doesn’t deserve to continue in the Premier League next season.
Eddie Howe’s men suffered a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United on Saturday, despite taking a lead through Junior Stanislas’ strike in the 16th minute.
The Norway international reduced the deficit to 3-2 at the start of the second half, but Mason Greenwood’s second goal of the match followed by Bruno Fernandes’ strike made sure the Red Devils sealed a comfortable victory.
Bournemouth’s latest defeat has left them in the 19th spot, level on points with 18th place Aston Villa and one point behind Watford, who are 17th in the table.
“The going gets tough. I’m not going to lie. The way we play now, we don’t deserve to be in the Premier League,” King told Norway’s TV2.
Bournemouth have an uphill task to stay in the Premier League as they take on Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Manchester City in the last five league matches.
With the tough run of fixtures ahead, the 28-year-old still retains hope of avoiding relegation this season.
“We have beaten big teams in the past. We just must not give up. There are five games left. We have not performed well enough to deserve to be in the Premier League. I’ll be honest. I’ll be honest to say that,” he explained.
“For much of today’s game [against United], even though we faced a better team and players, the stakes were better than in the other three games, but there are five pretty tough games left.”
“And yes, it is possible, but time is running out. We have Tottenham on Thursday. We just have to get home, recover and try to win.”
